Double Feature: Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies/Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies (The Russel Middlebrook Series Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

Coppola, Oliver Stone. Even Steven Spielberg!" Needless to say, Gunnar was still obsessing over the making of movies.
    "Oh," I said.
    "But it's not surprising. Horror really lends itself to low-budget filmmaking. The stories are pretty straightforward, and a lot of what makes a film scary is the camera work, and what's implied on-screen, not what's actually shown. Audiences are also more forgiving of technical flaws, at least if the film is scary. Plus horror is one of the few genres where you can get a distribution deal and promote the movie even with no stars."
    "Ah," I said.
    Gunnar looked over at me. "Sorry. I'm going on, aren't I? You're still freaked about your parents, aren't you?"
    Gunnar acted like he had OCD and ADD, but that didn't mean he was completely clueless. He might not have been as observant as I was, but he did okay in a pinch.
    "It's not that," I said.
    "Then what?"
    I sighed. "Kevin."
    "Kevin Land? What does he have to do with anything?"
    "He wants to get back together."
    "You are kidding me!"
    "No." I explained how I'd run into him at the movie meeting, how he'd e-mailed me afterward, and how we'd met by the stinky picnic gazebo.
    "That must be kind of flattering," Gunnar said. "To have him coming crawling back to you and everything."
    I laughed. "Yeah. I guess it is. But it's not just that. Kevin told me he's decided to come out."
    Gunnar knew why I'd broken up with Kevin, so he knew exactly what this meant.
    "Yikes," he said. "Do you think he really will?"
    "He might. What do you think I should do?"
    "About Kevin?"
    "Yeah."
    He stared at me for a second. "You're really asking my opinion?"
    "Of course," I said. "Why not?"
    "Well, it's just that no one's ever really asked me for relationship advice before. Why would they? What do I know about relationships?"
    "Well, you do have a girlfriend now, you know."
    "I know! Sometimes I still can't believe it." Gunnar thought a second longer. "If Kevin did come out, would you want to get back together with him?"
    That was the million-dollar question. Gunnar had zeroed right in on it. Maybe I'd been wrong not to ask him relationship advice earlier.
    "I don't know," I admitted.
    "So it's kind of a possibility?" Gunnar asked.
    "Maybe."
    We kept riding. Our bikes squeaked. My balls needed readjusting, but I couldn't do it without losing my balance.
    "What about Otto?" he said at last. There was no judgment in his voice, just like I'd thought.
    "God, I love Otto. I really do. No doubt about that."
    "But?"
    "But he lives eight hundred miles away!" I said. "And I'm almost seventeen years old. If he were here, there would be no question that I would stay with him. But what kind of relationship can we have living that far apart? I'll see him a week or two every year, at most. That's not a relationship, it's a pen pal. And we can stay friends. And maybe someday we'll live closer together, so we can pursue a real relationship. There's nothing to keep that from happening. This thing with Kevin, it's not really about Kevin. It's about me. About where I am in life."
    "But?"
    "But I do love Otto. And Otto loves me. And meeting me, it's changed his whole life. If I broke up with him, he would be devastated. I'm sure he'd think it was his entire fault. It might be forever until he trusted someone again. And why would I really be breaking up with him? Just because there's someone who lives closer ? What kind of crappy reason is that ? Maybe I'm just making excuses so I can get back together with Kevin."
    "But?"
    "But I can't stay with someone out of guilt or obligation. I'd just end up resenting him in the long run, and that's not doing anyone any favors. And if I'm making excuses to get together with Kevin, maybe that's because I want to get together with Kevin."
    Gunnar fell silent. Sometimes—very rarely, but sometimes—he knew when to stop talking.
    "Maybe you'll see things more clearly when Otto visits next week," Gunnar said at last.
    "This is true," I said.
    "And Kevin